Saskatchewan's new online, real-time reservation system for provincial park campsites goes live Mar. 12. There may or may not be a rush for favourite campsites this year, but you can be sure that will happen as more people become aware of and accustomed to the new system. In 2011, under the previous reservation system, the popular Douglas Provincial Park on Lake Diefenbaker, for one, was booked solid before the summer began.
Saskatchewan Parks says you'll have a chance to test drive the new system and set up your user account beginning Mar. 1. If you want to reduce the amount of time it takes to book a site on Mar. 12, it's likely a good idea to set up your account ahead of time. The system will begin accepting and confirming online reservations at 8 a.m. on Mar. 12—that's a Monday. If you're more comfortable using a phone, Parks says in a news release the toll-free reservation line also opens at that time. That number is 1-855-737-7275.
I'm excited about this new system (see demo below). I've been camping in Saskatchewan since I was a kid and I love it. My parents took us camping; we took our kids camping and now they go camping on their own. Presumably—hopefully—they'll take their kids camping if and when they have them. To me, there's no feeling quite like waking up to a beautiful morning in a well-organized campsite. It's like my tent is my bedroom and the forest, my home.
And if and when my kids go camping with their kids, I hope there are more provincial parks and camping areas. I think we're going to need them.
As it stands, it looks like Saskatchewan soon will be getting two new provincial parks, one just east of Prince Albert National Park and another in the Porcupine Hills area near Hudson Bay. But these two areas already encompass provincial recreation sites with a total of more than 400 campsites. So bringing these two new parks into the fold, as it were, will not by itself generate a lot of new campsites. I mention this for a couple of reasons.
First, 2011 was a record-breaking
How about wilderness camping at Steepbank Lake?
year for Saskatchewan provincial park visitation. The parks logged 3.37 million visits. And while a good deal of that increase may be attributable to good weather, our population is growing with our burgeoning economy. That's not likely to change any time soon and it will no doubt bring increasing pressure on parks.
Add to this the fact more folks from Alberta are discovering our wealth of swimmable, fishable, beautiful lakes, and that this new "no surprises'' booking system will reduce the risk involved for out-of-province folks interested in trying somewhere new, and I'll bet competition for good spots in popular Saskatchewan parks is going to be ever stiffer in years ahead. On your mark, get set. . . .
